Arizona Coyotes Beat Dallas Stars 3-1 Behind Domingue, Hanzal
The Arizona Coyotes topped the Dallas Stars on Thursday night behind a strong effort from Louis Domingue and two goals from Martin Hanzal.
1. 119. 3. 121. Final
The Arizona Coyotes may not be enjoying playoff games in 2015-16. That doesn’t mean they can’t take down some playoff foes down the stretch.
Louis Domingue saved 37 of the 38 shots he faced in a stellar outing against the high powered Stars. Martin Hanzal scored two goals and nearly had the hat trick with an empty netter late in the 3rd period.
Despite generating just three shots on six power play attempts and scoring no goals on any of those opportunities, the Coyotes hung on for the victory in Glendale.
Domingue’s play in net, combined with a more solid defensive output than Arizona Coyotes fans are used to, was just enough to slow down Dallas as the Stars are gearing up for the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Arizona Coyotes Player of the Game
The easy answer here is Martin Hanzal, but I’m going with Louis Domingue.
With the triumphant return of Mike Smith, it would be fair to say that perhaps Louis might have felt he was potentially going to be shunted to the side and his play might reflect that. That’s not how it has happened, however. In his two starts since Smith’s returns, Domingue has put up a .971 save percentage against Tampa Bay and a .974 tonight.
The rest and reduced workload may be doing both goalies good. That’s the hope, at any rate.
The View From The 200 Level
Defense.
The Arizona Coyotes have one of the worst units in the league statistically in 2015-16. There’s a lot of youth and inexperience in the back, and that is combined with a couple of veterans who are a bit past their prime.
Tonight, though, the unit was successful and they shut down the NHL’s best goal-scoring team. The Dallas Stars couldn’t get the breakthrough they were looking for despite putting 38 shots on net.
Giving up 38 shots per night is not a recipe for success, to be sure, but the Yotes seemed to continue their success of clean zone breakouts from Tuesday against Edmonton. Though the stars were putting up shots, the team was successfully preventing Dallas from camping out in the offensive end by getting the puck out quickly.
Next: Coyotes Defensive Outlook: This Season's Roster And Potential Moves For 2016-17
The Arizona Coyotes now prepare to face the Philadelphia Flyers at Gila River Arena on Saturday night. The assumption would be that Mike Smith will get the start.